Do these types of predictions ever come true?

My close friends at Content Marketing Institute have released a nice little SlideShare filled with tweetable thoughts from some of the industry’s smartest content marketing professionals. They were also kind enough to ask me 😉 What do you think are some of the bigger changes that marketing professionals (with a bent towards content marketing) are going to face that will shape the coming year (and beyond)? There are many changes that make it collectively feel like the tectonic plates of marketing are crashing and sliding beneath us. There is massive consolidation in the industry, major pressure on the publishers, advertising agency business models that are being questioned, the onslaught of algorithms replacing the work that we do, new marketing technology platforms and spend, the fragmentation of audiences, the audience’s growing dismay with social media platforms, and a general distrust of all things corporate and digital.

It’s enough to make you believe that any and all predictions are end game scenarios. Not the case.

Now is a time for optimism. As all of these changes and disruptions and innovations take shape, it is us – the human beings – that can truly affect change and make content marketing exactly what it is supposed to be: a place for real interactions between real human beings. A place to tell compelling stories that aren’t just another type of advertisement. This is real. This is true. This I believe. My prediction (and contribution) to this 85+ Predictions on Content Marketing in 2019 from the Content Marketing Institute should come as no surprise.

Rise Smart Audio… Rise!

For a brand to be human, a brand can now use one of the powerful forces available to it: a voice. For a primer on my smart audio perspective, please check out: Hello, Voice – Smart Audio Is The Now/Next Frontier. Voice is personal. Voice connects us. Voice is conversation. Here was my contribution to this project:

“Your brand voice will be more important than ever. No, not the overall ‘brand voice,’ but the actual sound of your brand. Connected speakers, smart speakers, interactive audio, podcasting and more more. We’ve been so focused on video and images that many (if not all) brands are being caught flat-footed on the power of voice. Voice will be the main way that consumers navigate content and technology (typing will be relegated to just long-form writing… if that). So, create and distribute your content in a voice-based format. Find your brand voice. Think Alexa, think Google Home, think Siri, watch Apple (HomePod), and don’t dismiss Samsung either. Voice is (and will be) the new SEO. It’s a land-grab… it’s happening. Figure it out.”

Two action items for you right now:

1. Check out the 85+ Predictions on Content Marketing In 2019.
2. Add your prediction below.